Is there an Italian Superman? Do Italians love Mickey Mouse even more than Americans? Are Italians as obsessed with zombies as we are? What are the newest, most interesting Italian graphic novels and what do they tell us about Italian culture, society and history? This course will explore the history of Italian fumetti and graphic novels (in English) beginning with comics journals of the early 1900s and ending with contemporary comic books, strips and graphic novels. Students will learn how to read and interpret the hybrid language of comics, using an appropriate vocabulary for the medium.